


Within My Lover's Hair

by knockout_mouse



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gentle Kissing, Gentleness, Hair, Hair Braiding, Long Hair, M/M, Post-Canon Cardassia, Short & Sweet, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26982370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knockout_mouse/pseuds/knockout_mouse
Summary: In Post-Canon Cardassia, Julian braids Garak's hair.
Relationships: Julian Bashir/Elim Garak
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67





	Within My Lover's Hair

**Author's Note:**

> Look, it's been a rough year for us all. Got subsequently rougher today after my mom got a bad diagnosis at the doctor's. I needed something soft and bordering on processing emotional trauma to give to y'all. Please let me know if you enjoyed! <3

The evening was a golden honeyed hue, a gentle wind offering reprieve against the back of Julian’s neck as he sat next to the open window. It’d taken them a lot of work and hardship to get here, to have a shared home where they could both collapse from exhaustion after too many hours spent pouring over politics and patients. Cardassia had been a harsh home for so long, it felt ethereal to be sitting with his eyelids closed, and not have a red hot heat on the other side, threatening to burn his skin. Instead, the light was a soft dusk. He took a deep breath, resting his fingertips along the windowsill.

The front door clicked shut somewhere behind him, and he smiled to himself, letting Garak kick off his shoes and dump a stack of PADDs on the table before heaving a sigh into his favorite spot on the couch. The cushions sank next to Julian, and he slowly opened his eyes.

“Managed to sneak out of Central this time?” 

Garak’s exhaustion had worn long lines into his face, but some of them formed a tired smile, “My dear, if I could find a way to assure I never speak to a councilman again, I would become a master of the technique.” he settled, smoothing the pleats of his tunic, “However I was spared an extra hour of socialising thanks to the work holiday.”

“Ah.” Julian flopped onto his back, feet sticking up over the back of the couch, “I’d forgotten that was a thing now. Us doctors don’t really get a work holiday during  _ saldvek _ season. I should just put a sign on the door that says: ‘If you have these symptoms, go right back home and get some water and sleep!’ I don’t know why people think we can cure them of a seasonal bug.”

Garak snorted, “And here I recall you complaining when people weren’t coming to you for anything less than life-or-death.”

“True.” Julian watched his legs fidget absently, “I suppose I should be grateful not all Cardassians are as loathe as you to visit the doctor.”

Garak harrumphed, reaching up to pull his hair from its daily bun, “Well when one spends so long having a highly-illegal implant attached to one’s brain, you learn to exercise caution.”

Julian replied with a lazy smile, watching as Garak’s now-long, black hair shook out of its usual hold and landed along his shoulders. Garak had at some point removed his coat upon coming in, and underneath the neckline of his tunic stretched scandalously wide. Garak claimed it was the latest fashion, which wasn’t strictly a lie, but Julian was fairly sure his ulterior motive had something to do with the few stodgy council members who turned their noses at the thought of being anything less than modest. If there was anything Gara had never managed to be in his entire life, it was  _ modest _ . 

“Would you like me to brush your hair?” he asked gently, watching the crinkles around Garak’s eyes to guess how likely his husband would accept the intimate gesture.

Perhaps the golden light was having an effect on Garak too, because his shoulders relaxed and he shifted to where his back faced Julian, “You may. Although I believe you’ll have an easier time if you sit up.”

Julian smirked and flipped himself upright again, legs criss-crossing underneath him like a cricket. Many Cardassian men had chosen to grow their hair out after so many years of the state-suggested shorter cut. Garak was among them, and over the past year his hair had grown long and soft. Despite Julian making a point of fawning over the new look, Garak rarely kept it down, instead opting for something more practical. This Garak, with hair unbound and flowing, was one only Julian ever got to see.

He ran his fingers through the strands, pausing along the scalp as Garak hummed in contentment, making the small trilled sound in his throat that all Cardassians seemed to do when quietly pleased. Julian adored the sound, taking every chance he got to coax this quieter version of Garak out into the open. It was like petting a particularly large and stubborn lizard, waiting till Garak’s eyes closed and his neck turned a subtle shade of blue.

Then, slowly, Julian parted the hair into sections, running all along the back and sides of his head, trying very hard to recall the instructions he’d read once in a magazine about how to make a comfortable but beautiful braid. He was grateful for the years spent honing his skills around a scalpel, confident fingers now weaving through Garak’s black river of hair.

“It doesn’t quite feel real does it.” Julian murmured.

Garak’s brow raised, “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re referring to, my dear.”

“Well just… you know, this.” he gestured with his shoulders to their living room. Their home. “We’ve spent three past year and a half just trying to put out as many diplomatic fires as possible.”

“And real ones.” Garak said quietly.

“And real ones.” Julian shudders at the memory of bodies found unreachable through the debris and collapsed houses. Motherless children wandering the streets with dull eyes. His fingers tightened around a strand, and Garak winced.

“Sorry.” Julian pressed a kiss against his husband’s head, “I just… I don’t think my body quite knows how to pause. To relax for once. And now that we get an evening free,” he folded one braid into another, “I keep waiting for the silence to hold a scream.”

Garak remained quiet, letting the sun set in the distance as Julian’s fingers repeated an endless mantra of silken strands. Perhaps Julian was being silly. Garak had known nothing but stress all his life; he must think Julian odd for just now coming to such an obvious realization. 

“Julian,” Garak turned his head slightly, just enough to catch a glimpse of Julian’s arm, “Just because it’s quiet now doesn’t mean there won’t be another storm coming. We must take these moments when they are offered.”

Julian’s fingers sagged, “I know. I just… never mind. I’m rambling. How was your day?” He wrapped the end of the braid with Garak’s dark hair tie.

Garak turned so he was facing Julian, “I did not mean that as a critique against you, my dear. Forgive me, I am an old man too wrapped up in trying to impart knowledge from my own experiences.”

Julian rolled his eyes, “You didn’t seem all that old last night.” he grinned, “Or are you telling me elderly Cardassians are just that flexible?”

He received an exasperated smile for his remark, “Unlike humans, age is seen as a positive change for Cardassians. When I said I was an old man, I was emphasizing my  _ experience _ .”

Julian snuggled up close to him, trying to tame his bright smile, “So you were bragging?”

“Of course not. I have only ever stated the facts, plain and simple.” 

Julian snorted and snuck a quick kiss to Garak’s  _ chufa _ , “As you wish, my dear.”

He then burrowed into his husband’s warmth, hearing the fondness in Garak’s scowl as they cuddled close together in the little house they called home. It wasn’t much — dear god, it wasn’t even everything Julian had dreamed — but they had gone through a lot to get there. They deserved this peace.

“I don’t suppose you’d be up for making us some dinner tonight?” Julian asked.

“Replicator broken again?”

“How’d you guess?”

A lovely sigh. Fingers trailed through his curly hair, “As you wish, my dear.”

**Author's Note:**

> A Princess Bride reference? In my fic? It's more likely than you think.


End file.
